Noiseless railway-crossing.



T. GRlFFlTH.

Nolsmss RAILWAY caossmsf APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30| 1917 l 1,236,291 Patented Aug. 7,1917.

I ZI'HEETS-SHEET l.

lIiilllwy 6' VL# ff i 1 if n l( [D-D-m/ /f-m c D 1f www M Imis@ 'A wf 'y g `l Ano/mns TJ. GRIFFITH. NDISELESS RAILWAY CROSSING.

i APPLlcATloN 'FILED MN. 30.1917.

4 Aime/ufr@ Patented Aug. 7, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THOMAS JEFFERSON GRIFFITH, 0F LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

NOISELESS RAILWAY-CROSSING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ano'. '7, 191'?.

Application led January 30, 1917. Serial No. 145,414.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. GRIFFITH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Noiseless Railway-Crossings, of which the following is a specification.

One of the principal objects of my invention is to provide an improved noiseless railway crossing which will be operated automatically by trains approaching the crossing, or, if preferred, can be operated from a signal tower by electric power, the arrangement being such that a continuous track will be presented at the crossing irrespective of the direction in which the train approaches.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of split or overlapping rail segments between the main rails of the crossing, such rail segments being operable to form a continuous track at the crossing, so that a train will pass thereover without jar or noise.

A further obj ect of the invention is to provide an improved noiseless railway crossing, which will be extremely simple, durable, efficient in operation, and inexpensive to manufacture and maintain.

With these and other objects in view which will become apparent as the description proceeds, lthe invention resides in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several figures, of which- Figure 1 represents a top plan view of a railway crossing, constructed according to my invention, the cover for the base plate being removed;

Fig. 2 represents a fragmentarv top plan view of a portion of the main operating lever, showing its method of actuating the coupling lever;

Fig. 3 represents a view in section taken vertically and transversely on the planes indicated by the broken line 3 3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated' by the arrows;

Fig. 4 represents a view in perspective of one of the coupling levers;

Fig. 5 represents a view in section taken transversely on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. G represents a fragmentary perspective view of one of thesplit rail segments, showing the pin receiving lugs provided thereon.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the main rails of what may be termed the east and west tracks, indicated at 5, are arranged at right angles to the main rails of what may be termed the north and south tracks, indicated at 6, to form the usual crossing.

Arranged at the crossing is a substantially rectangular base plate 7, having a central opening bridged by a cross piece 8. Side walls `9 rise from the plate 7 and carry a detachable cover 10 which houses and protects the operating lever, indicated at 11. This lever is provided with four arms each of which at its outer end, extends through an opening 12 in one of the walls 9, and the lever is pivoted at its central portion on the cross piece 8, as at 13.

Arranged at the crossing in alinement with each interrupted rail of both main lines, is a split rail, these rails being indicated in pairs by the letters A and B. Each of the split rails consists of the tapered segments 14 and 15 slidably mounted on the base plate 7, in such manner as to be moved toward and away from each other longitudinally. Suitable brackets indicated at 16, are mounted on the base plate 7 for guiding the movements of the split rail segments.

Each of the rail segments 14 and 15 is provided adjacent its central portion with an outwardly extending lug 17 and 18 respectively, see Fig. 2. The lug 17 carries a downwardly extending pin 19 fitting into a slot cut longitudinally in the outer end of the coupling lever 20. This l-ever is arranged underneath the split rail segments 14 and 15, and is pivotally mounted by means of a pin 21 in a depression 22 formed in the base plate 7. The inner end of coupling lever 20 is likewise formed with a longitudinally extending slot into which the lower end of a longer pin 23 carried by lug 18 exing, the

tends. The up`per end of this pin 23 extends into a slot cut longitudinally in the outer end of the adjacent arm of operating lever 11. By this construction, it will be seen that when the operating lever is oscillated on its center 13, the segments of the split rails will be moved toward and away from each other. Pivotally connected to the outer end of each of the split rail segments 1&1 and 15, is one end of a shift lever 25. These shift levers extend longitudinally of the adjacent main track rails, and at their opposite ends are pivoted as at 26 to suitable plates or cross ties 27. The arrangement of the split rails is such that, when the outer-ends of the segments of one pair of split rails, pair A for instance, abut against the main rails 5 for forming continuations of the inain rails 6, the segments of the other pair of split rails B will be in such position that their outer ends will be in spaced relation with the rails 6. This arrangement is shown in Fig. l.

lThe north and south track is thus open and the pair A of the split rails form continuations of the rails 6, so that when a train travels over the north and south track, a substantially continuous rail will be formed at the crossing. N ow, if a train approaches along the east and west track, moving toward the right as indicated in Fig. 1, the leading wheels of the forward truck of the train or car will engage the shift levers 25 of the nearest split rail of pair A, and will move these levers toward each other, thus shifting the rail segments lll and 15 inwardly, and this motion of the rail segments will be imparted to the coupling lever :20 and swing the same on its pivot, and the pin and slot engagement with the adjacent arm of operating lever 11 will move this lever in the direction indicated by the arrows, whereby to shift the segments of the other split rail of pair A inwardly, to allow clearance for the wheels of the train, and to simultaneously shift the segments of the pair B of split rails outwardly into engagement with the rails G and in alinement with rails 5 so as to form a continuation of said rails 5,

' for the noiseless passage of the train. The

train having entirely passed over the crossparts will be left in their shifted position. If the next train approaches the crossing on the east and west track, the crossing will be open and no movement of the parts will take place. 1f, however, the next train approaches on the north and south track, the shift levers of the near split rail of pair B will be actuated, whereby to move the segments of the opposite rail of pair B together', and the segments of the rails of pair A outwardly, whereby to form continuations of the rails G, in order to afford an even uninterrupted crossing.

If desired, a'covering indicated at 28 may be provided for housing those portions of the operating mechanism unprotected by the covering 10. j

Although 1 have described the preferred embodiment of my invention, 1 may desire to make such changes in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts thereof, as do not depart from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

1 claim:

l. 1n a railway crossing, the combination with main track rails crossing each other, of a base plate, a pair of split rails arranged between the rails of each of the main tracks and alining with the rails of the other track, said split rails each including tapered segments slidably supported on the base plate and movable longitudinally in opposite directions toward and away from the rails with which they are alined, means on the base plate for guiding the movements of the split rail segments, `a centrally pivoted coupling lever arranged beneath each split rail, lugs carried by the segments `of each split rail extending in opposite directions, pins carried by the lugs and fitting in slots in the opposite ends of the adjacent coupling lever, a four-armed operating lever pivoted on the base plate, the arms of the lever extending each toward one of the split rails, and having a slot at its end into which the pin carried by the adjacent rail segment extends, and a plurality of shift levers each pivotally connected at its inner end to the outer end of one of the split rail segments, supports to which the outer ends of the split levers are pivotally connected, the shift levers associated with one pair of opposed split rails beinginclined toward the adjacent main rails in position to be moved by the wheels of a car, at the same time that the shift levein` associated with the other pair of split rails lie in spaced relation with the adjacent main 'ails.`

2.-111 a railway crossing, the combination with main track rails crossing each other, of a pair of split rails arranged between the rails of cach of the main tracks and alining with the rails of the other track, said split rails each including tapered segments slidable longitudinally in `opposite directions toward and away from the rails with which they aline, a centrally pivoted coupling'lev ,7 arranged beneath each split rail, means pivotally connecting each of the split rail segments with the coupling lever' on opposite sides of the pivotal point of the latter, whereby movement imparted to one rail segment will be imparted in an opposite direction to the other, a four-armed centrally pivoted operating lever, the arms ofthe `lever extending each toward one of the split rails, a pin and slot connection between each 0perating lever arm and the adjacent split rail Wheels of a car7 for shifting the rail segsegment, and a plurality of shift levers each ments with which they are connected, at the pivotally connected to the outer end of one same time that the shift levers associated l@ of the split rail segments, the .shift levers With the other pair of split rails lie in spaced associated With one pair of opposed split relation with their adjacent main rails.

rails being inclined toward the adjacent main rails in position to be moved by the THOMAS JEFFERSON GRIFFITH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for` ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

